On a muggy May morning, with temperatures expected to reach the 80s, Howard Todd started his day with the coffee crew at Grand Brew Cafe on Shiloh Street in Mount Washington. Later, he'll move next door to serve up the cool treats at DiFiore's Ice Cream Delite.

Todd hasn't taken a day off in years -- not a holiday or a weekend -- and he typically works a longer-than-average shift of 12 hours as he runs between his two shops.

"It's what I was born to do -- work. It's what I've always been good at -- working," Todd said. "I think it's a big thing when you come up poor, you're hungry. I still have that same hunger like I had when I was 10 years old."

Not even an operation could end the streak.

"I worked through a hernia surgery a couple of years ago," he said. "That got a little bit tough, but I made it through it."

Three grandchildren provide the inspiration that fuels the Elliott native's extreme work ethic.

"That's the message I'm trying to get across, so that later on in life when they read these articles, they know about their pap," he said. "They're going to know that, hey, no excuses. You're going to walk tall and do it."

Todd was recognized with a proclamation at the City-County Building on Wednesday, and he will be honored by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on Thursday.

"The guy is a role model for everyone here in Mount Washington, the city of Pittsburgh and America in general," said a customer, Dr. Tom Bonacorsi.

Working with his wife, Patricia, Todd serves not only regulars but mostly out-of-towners who visit the Mount for its spectacular views of the downtown skyline.

May 16 will be his next day off, ending the streak at 2,012 consecutive work days in the year 2012. Todd said he will spend the day with his grandchildren and go to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with the family.

He's 48, but says he feels 25.

"I don't know what I'll do after this," Todd said. "Maybe I'll climb Mount Everest. Maybe I'm going to jump out of a plane. I don't know. Maybe I'm going to bungee jump. There's a lot of crazy things like that in my mind. Maybe I might go through Marine boot camp."